The graphic above is a tag cloud from Wordle that I generated from the article, What Should You Do Now? A Roundtable Discussion on Law Practice in a Time of Great Economic Turmoil, which is just one part of an excellent new issue of the ABA’s Law Practice Today webzine that you should run, not walk, over to see. Your time spent there will be well-rewarded.
The roundtable article arose from an idea I had to put together a roundtable discussion of some of the most interesting thinkers (and doers) on law practice management issues about the most top-of-mind topic of the day – what should lawyers and law firms (and the profession in general) be doing in this tough economic times?
I wanted to pull together some practical answers to some of the most basic questions that everyone I knew was either grappling with or trying to pretend didn’t exist. The latter is more common, while the former is more recommended.
My practical problem was pulling together a group of experts in the face of a very tight deadline. Fortunately, I found a group of eight who were as generous with their time as they were with their expertise and insights.
Frankly, it’s a stellar cast: Tom Collins (formerly of the Fabulous More Partner Income blog, who I coaxed out of his novel-writing retirement), Jordan Furlong, Patrick Lamb, Bruce “Adam Smith, Esq.” MacEwen, Patrick McKenna, Edward Poll, Allison C. Shields and Merrilyn Astin Tarlton.
And this stellar cast delivers well beyond my high expectations of them. I play the role of moderator and tried to ask the questions that seem to be on most lawyers’ minds.
Here’s a summary of the piece:

The economic turmoil rumbling through the land has lawyers facing layoffs, uncertainty and flat-out fear. In this roundtable discussion, our panel of law practice management experts share their expertise, wisdom and practical tips about what you need to do right now.

There are six parts to the conversation:
1. The Nature of the Crisis – Uncharted Territory.
2. Tell-tale Signs – When Do You Need to Act?
3. Taking a Prudent Approach – Setting the Right Priorities.
4. What Steps Do Make Sense? Some Practical Advice.
5. Predicting the Future.
6. Best Practical Tips.
There are many, many “money quotes” from this article, but let me give you this one from Merrilyn Astin Tarlton:

Convene a meeting of your firm’s decision-makers tomorrow. Agree together to cease hand wringing and start planning. Don’t leave the room until you have a short list of things that must be done and the names of the people who will do them – plus a deadline. Hold each other accountable. Switch from saying “What are we going to do?” to “Here’s what we’re going to do!”

As we say in the article, panic is not a strategy.
I’m proud of this article and highly encourage you to go over to the article and read it from beginning to end. Even better, work your way through the same questions I asked the experts and come up with your own answers to both those questions and the fantastic list of hard questions that Patrick McKenna provides as part of the article.
I put the graphic of the tag cloud at the top of this post for three reasons. First, I’m really intrigued by the visual summary of the article that the tag cloud provides (note that the importance of the word “clients”). Second, the graphic was left off the end of the article, making my last comments in the article quite confusing (at least until it’s fixed). Third, to prove that I actually do know the difference between tag clouds and cloud tags, even though I have a tendency to type “cloud tags” (and I hope to get that corrected in the article as well).
Highly, highly recommended. And just one more example of why I love roundtable articles.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (https://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
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